Can opener



Aprifi 25, 1967 E. THOMAS 3,315,353

CAN OPENER Filed May 14, 1965 United States Patent Ofiice 3315,35. Patented Apr. 25, 196

3,315,353 CAN OPENER Ernest Thomas, Roselle, lll., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Home Products Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 14, 1965, Ser. No. 455,880 2 Claims. (Cl. 30-15) This invention relates to can openers and more particularly can openers of the type wherein the end wall of a can is severed along the junction between said wall and the beaded rim of the can by a cutting member operating in conjunction with a driven traction wheel which supports and rotates the can while the beaded rim is gripped between said traction wheel and a bearing member in overhead relation to the traction wheel.

An object of this invention resides in the provision of an overhead bearing which incorporates a spacer or cushioning element of such low coefiicient of friction as to eliminate galling action between the bearing and the surface of the beaded rim of the can engaged thereby while the can is undergoing rotation via operation of the traction wheel.

A still further object is to provide an improved spacer as indicated with which the beaded rim of the can has lateral engagement as well as upward engagement to prevent rocking of the cutting element about an axis extending fore and aft of the line of travel of the cutting element.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an opener embodying the features of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation of side thereof facing the cutter.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the spacer element.

FIG. 4 is a side View thereof.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view showing details of the traction wheel mounting.

FIG. 6 is an end elevation of the opener taken from the left side of FIG. 1 and showing the opener as applied to a can while undergoing cutting action.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing wherein for the purpose of illustration there is disclosed a perferred embodiment of this invention, reference numeral 10 designates a support arm formed from an elongated flat metal stock having flat opposed vertically disposed sides 11 and 12 and upper and lower edges except for a rear end portion thereof which is twisted about the longitudinal axis of the arm to form a handle portion with the sides 11 and 12 disposed at right angles to the position occupied by the sides of the portion forwardly of said handle portion. The shaft 14 is mounted in the opening 13 via a bearing member 14a contained in and conforming in size to the opening and slotted to receive the shaft 14. The member 14a is preferably of relatively friction free composition such as acetal resin or the like. A crank or key 16 forming an integral extension of the shaft provides a handle facing the side 12 of arm 10 for rotating the traction wheel 15.

A lever arm 17 formed of flat metal stock has rocking movement in a plane parallel to and facing the side 12 of the arm 10 via a pivot connection 18. A handle for rocking the lever arm 17 about pivot 18 is defined by a rod 19 fixed to an area of the arm 17 which projects below the lower edge of the arm 10. The rod 19 extends rearwardly from its connection with lever arm 17 at such distance below the rear end portion of arm 10 as to allow said rod 19 and the rear end portion of the arm 10 opposite thereto to occupy positions within reach of the fingers of the user when flexed in gripping relation about said portions of the rod and arm.

The lever arm 17 is bent to form a flange 20 having a forward portion in overhead relation to the traction wheel and the upper edge of the area of the arm 10 the opener taken from the occupied by the traction wheel as well as a rear portio extending rearwardly of the arm 10 beyond the confine of the area occupied by the traction wheel. An ea formed integrally with and projecting downwardly from said forward portion of the flange 20 defines a blade 21 The blade terminates in a downwardly facing cuttin edge 22 which extends fore and aft of the arm 10 in over lapping relation to the exposed face of the traction whee. 15 along the uppermost periphery of said wheel whet the blade is in its downwardmost rocked position relative to the wheel. Reference numeral 23 designates a point on the blade 21 from which the cutting edge 22 extends rearwardly and upwardly.

Operation of the can opener in severing the top wall 24a of a can 24, as shown in FIG. 6, is initiated by applying the upper edge of the traction wheel 15 in upward engagement with the surface of the beaded rim 25 of the can 24 where the rim joins the upright side wall 24b of the can, while the rod 19 is in underlying relation to the rear portion of the arm opposite thereto and occupying a downwardly rocked position so as to allow the blade 21 to occupy an upwardly rocked position clear of the upper limits of the beaded rim of the can. As the blade is thereupon moved downwardly toward the traction wheel, the point 23 punctures the top wall of the can and the edge 22 of the blade is positioned to sever the top wall of the can in response to rotation of the can relative to the blade via rotation of the traction wheel. In this position a forward extension of the rod 19 in downward relation to the traction wheel and offset in the direction of the container defines a rest 26 with which the side wall 24b of the can opposite thereto has an engagement to maintain the blade at an inclination most effective for severing the top wall and for folding the remnant of the top wall along the severed edge downwardly against the side wall of the can.

While the beaded rim of the can is thus disposed between the blade 21 and the surface of the arm 19 directly oposite the blade, within an area above the traction wheel 15, driving relationship between the traction wheel 15 and said beaded rim is established by the downward force exerted against the beaded rim along the surface of a spacer 27 secured to the underside of the flange 20 of the lever arm 17.

The spacer 27 consists of a strip of plastic material such as an acetal resin known 'by the name of Delrin. Flexibility of the spacer allows integral claws 28 at opposite ends of the spacer to be movable toward and away from positions in gripping engagement with the leading and trailing edges of the flange in relation to the direction of operative travel of the blade while the spacer is inherently stressed to maintain the claws in such gripping engagement. Thus the spacer 27 is interlocked with the flange 20 through gripping action of said claws 28 except when the spacer 27 is intentionally flexed to disengage said claws from the edges of the flange. The area of the spacer between said claws is of uniform thickness except for a ramp 29 defined by the lower surface marginal portion along the edge of the spacer nearest the blade. The lower surface of the spacer thus defining the ramp 29 occupies a plane in gradually lowered relation to a plane containing the upper surface of the spacer with its highest portion at the trailing end of the spacer and its lowest portion at the leading end of the spacer. Midway of the distance between said highest and lowest areas of the ramp, the plane of the ramp coincides with a projection of the plane containing the lower surface area of the spacer outside the confines of the ramp. A shoulder or curb 30 is thus defined along the junction between the highest portion of the ramp 29 and the lower surface area of the spacer alongside said ramp-29. The curb 30 is effective through its engagement with the beaded rim of 3 can opposite thereto when the opener is in operation prevent pivotal movement of the traction wheel in lirection perpendicular to a plane containing a face of :1 wheel and about a fulcrum point lying in the upper- )st peripheral edge of said wheel. Through such con- Il, the traction wheel 15 is not allowed to climb away am a position of upward engagement with the beaded n of the can. The spacer 27, via the ramp 29, thus provides a planar ea of contact with which the can head rim has upward gagement with a minim-um coefiicient of friction or .lling action to thereby lessen the work required to 'opel the can via rotation of the traction Wheel. At e same time the ramp 29' in conjunction with the curb D with which the can head rim has sideward engagement ioperate to prevent displacement of the traction wheel om a required line of travel along the underside of the- :ad rim.

The portion of the spacer 27 which occupies the area E the flange which is rearward of the blade is widened define a shoulder 31 opposite the rearwardly facing upght edge portion of the blade 21. 7 Thus, if excess fricon should be exerted by the can bead rim during can pening action sufficient to disturb gripping engagement f the claws 28 with the flange edges opposite thereto, the lade 21 acting in conjunction with the shoulder 31 will ountera-ct such forces to augment the holding action of he claws 28 and thereby maintain the spacer in secured elation to the flange.

What is claimed is:

1. A can opener for severing the end wall of a can rlong a line at the junction between said end wall and an rpstanding rim surrounding said end wall, said opener in- :l-uding a traction Wheel engageable with said rim, an arm on which said wheel is supported for rotation, a cutter mounted on said arm via a mounting member having a wall portion in overhead relation to the traction wheel with oposite edges of said portion spaced apart lengthwise of the line of travel of said cutter for movement of the cutter toward and away from an operative position in relation to said traction wheel, and means having engagement with said can rim and operative in conjunction with said traction wheel to drive said cutter along said severance line upon rotation of said traction wheel while said wheel engages said rim and said cutter is in said operative position relative to said traction wheel, said means having a can rim engaging surface defined by a solid strip of synthetic resinous material having integral claws which engage said opposite edges of said portion of the :mounting member to establish the position of said strip relative to said cutter.

2. A can opener for severing the end wall of a can along a line at the junction between said end wall and an upstanding rim surrounding said end wall, said opener including a traction wheel engageable with said rim, an arm on which said wheel is supported for rotation, a cutter mounted on said arm for movement of the cutter toward .and away from an operative position in relation to said traction wheel via a mounting member having a wall portion in overhead relation to the traction wheel, and means having engagement with said can rim and operative in conjunction with said traction wheel to drive said cutter along said severance line upon rotation of said traction wheel while said wheel engages said rim and said cutter is in said operative position relative to said traction wheel, said rneans having a can rim engaging surface defined by a solid strip of synthetic resinous material secured to said wall mounting member, the lower face of said strip being gradually downwardly inclined in the direction of the line of travel of said cutter along the surface thereof directly opposite the can rim, and a curb at the edge of said downwardly inclined portion with which the can rim has outward sideward engagement to control the position of the traction wheel relative to said rim.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,029,812 2/1936 Dazey 30-8.5 2,237,418 4/1941 Fender et al. 30-15 2,662,280 12/1953 La Forte 30-,15 2,891,310 6/1959 Carp 30l5.5

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. G. WEIDENFELD, Assistant Examiner 

1. A CAN OPENER FOR SEVERING THE END WALL OF A CAN ALONG A LINE AT THE JUNCTION BETWEEN SAID END WALL AND AN UPSTANDING RIM SURROUNDING SAID END WALL, SAID OPENER INCLUDING A TRACTION WHEEL ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID RIM, AN ARM ON WHICH SAID WHEEL IS SUPPORTED FOR ROTATION, A CUTTER MOUNTED ON SAID ARM VIA A MOUNTING MEMBER HAVING A WALL PORTION IN OVERHEAD RELATION TO THE TRACTION WHEEL WITH OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID PORTION SPACED APART LENGTHWISE OF THE LINE OF TRAVEL OF SAID CUTTER FOR MOVEMENT OF THE CUTTER TOWARD AND AWAY FROM AN OPERATIVE POSITION IN RELATION TO SAID TRACTION WHEEL, AND MEANS HAVING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CAN RIM AND OPERATIVE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SAID TRACTION WHEEL TO DRIVE SAID CUTTER ALONG SAID SEVERANCE LINE UPON ROTATION OF SAID TRACTION WHEEL WHILE SAID WHEEL ENGAGES SAID RIM AND SAID CUTTER IS IN SAID OPERATIVE POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID TRACTION WHEEL, SAID MEANS HAVING A CAN RIM ENGAGING SURFACE DEFINED BY A SOLID STRIP OF SYNTHETIC RESINOUS MATERIAL HAVING INTEGRAL CLAWS WHICH ENGAGE SAID OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID PORTION OF THE MOUNTING MEMBER TO ESTABLISH THE POSITION OF SAID STRIP RELATIVE TO SAID CUTTER. 